LOSING the ability to smell lemons or onions could be a sign of looming death, a study suggests.
OAPs who struggled to identify common scents were almost half more likely to die within a decade.
Getty – Contributor
The results even applied to those who were in apparently good health at the start of the trial.
Researchers say GPs could use the tests to identify general underlying issues in their patients.
They tested the noses of 2,289 people aged 71 to 82 and followed them for 13 years.
Participants were asked to identify 12 smells, such as banana, petrol and soap.
Those with the worst scores were 46 per cent more likely to die within ten years than those with the best.
They were also 30 per cent more likely to die within 13 years, the Michigan State University boffins found.
Early warning sign
It was already known that a loss of smell can be an early warning sign for Parkinson’s disease and dementia.
But these conditions only explained 28 per cent of the increased risk, leaving most of it unexplained.
It led the scientists to conclude that a loss of smell could be a sign of general unidentified poor health.
A loss of smell can decrease appetite, leading to harmful weight loss.
Impaired sense of smell has broader implications of health beyond what we have already known
Dr Honglei Chen
It also makes it more difficult to smell life-threatening gas leaks, fires and spoiled food.
Study leader Dr Honglei Chen said: “We don’t have a reason for more than 70 per of the increased risk.
We need to find out what happened to these individuals.
“It tells us that in older adults, impaired sense of smell has broader implications of health beyond what we have already known.
“Incorporating a sense of smell screening in routine doctor visits might be a good idea at some point.”
Prof Robert Howard, from University College London, welcomed the results of the study.
MORE ON HEALTH
He said: “Most of the increased mortality risk could not be explained by associations with specific illnesses such as cancer or cardiovascular disorders.
“This raises the interesting possibility that loss of smell may be a marker of generalised ageing and should be taken seriously by older people and their doctors.”
The findings are published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
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